The Curse Keepers Collection (73 page)

“You’re not getting my point, Ellie. There are
professionals
who deal with this sort of thing.”

“You saw that cat on my porch. Do you really think that was done by a normal animal?” I pointed to the front door. “It was left for me.”

“Maybe it wasn’t for you. Maybe it just happened to be on your porch.”

“And the neighbor’s dog just
happened
to be next to my house. What a coincidence.” Leaning my head back, I groaned. “This is not an animal. This is a spirit. And it won’t stop until I stop it.”

“For argument’s sake, let’s say you’re right. How do you stop it?”

I lifted my chin. “That’s where
you
come in.”

He sighed and moved to the sofa. “If you’re hinging everything on my knowledge, then you’re going to be sorely disappointed.” He grabbed his laptop off the coffee table. “When I did a search for an animal that eats hearts, I only found a short reference—just a couple of lines.”

“And?”

“It’s a sort of mythical creature.” He pulled up the document. “It’s said to resemble a badger more than anything else. It has claws like a predatory cat, teeth like a wolf, and night vision like a bat.”

I sat down next to him, lifting my feet onto the sofa and crossing my legs. “Bats use sonar to see, not their actual sight.”

“Don’t be so literal. This was written well over three hundred years ago. You get the point.”

“So it’s like some hybrid mix.”

“It’s not uncommon for these mythical creatures.”

“Does it say how to kill it or what it’s called?”

“Unfortunately, there’s nothing about how to kill it, but it does give it a name. Ukinim.”

“A name is something. It’s better than nothing.”

The wind picked up outside, the gusts rattling the door and windows.

David cast a hesitant look toward the door. “I didn’t think there was a storm in the forecast for tonight.”

My shoulders tensed and I uncrossed my legs, my feet touching the floor. “I’m sure there wasn’t.”

Despite the fact that I had almost nightly visits, I was rarely awake when they showed up. They usually woke me up by pounding on the door. And despite the fact that they visited so often, I still dreaded every encounter. Especially this one. What if the redrawn symbols on the door weren’t strong enough to protect us?

“Are you suggesting what I think you are?”

I didn’t look at him, trying to psych myself up for the encounter. “We’ll know soon enough.”

He closed his laptop and set it back on the table. “What happens when they show up?”

“They usually wake me up by banging on my door and shouting ‘Curse Keeper.’ I open the door to see what they want—”

“Wait. Why in bloody hell would you open the door?”

“The symbols protect the threshold. They can’t get in. If I didn’t open the door, they would keep yelling. I worry that they’d wake up my neighbors and kill them.”

His lips pressed together in a tight line.

Several seconds later, the door shook with pounding and my palm burned. “Curse Keeper!”

I stood and took a deep breath, then looked down at David. “Showtime.”

His pale face turned toward the door, his knuckles white from gripping the arm of the sofa.

Grabbing hold of the doorknob, I pulled the door open and prepared for the usual blast of wind.

It was frigidly cold. Wapi.

This was good. David was sure to believe me now.

Wapi was perched on the porch railing. I still wasn’t used to seeing him in his physical form. His white hair blew around his bird body in the wind. I stood aside so that David could get a good look.

He gasped behind me. “Bloody fucking hell.”

“What do you want this time, Wapi?”

“Who are you to speak to a god in such a disrespectful way?”

“I am Curse Keeper, daughter of the sea, and witness to creation. Enjoy your time on the earthly plane because I’m sending your ass back to Popogusso as soon as I can.”

“I am here with a warning from Okeus.” Wapi’s beady eyes narrowed, and he looked over my shoulder at David. “You are not alone.”

“So what’s new? You always bring a warning.” I prayed that the door protections would work, but it would be best to try and distract him from David. If that were even possible.

“You have a threat that is greater than Okeus at the moment.”

I had no idea how that could even be possible.

“Okeus has made it clear that you are his and his alone, but Ukinim refuses to listen.”

I swallowed my panic. That was the name David had found. “Who’s Ukinim?”

“He left a present on your doorstep this evening.”

“He’s the spirit that’s been killing the dogs?”

“Yes.” A wicked smile lit up Wapi’s eyes. “I have something you want. Information.”

“There’s no way you’d just give me information. Everything you and Okeus offer comes at a price. I don’t have anything you could want besides my Manitou, and I know how scared you all are of Okeus.”

Wapi’s wings fluttered, then settled close to his body. “Don’t be so sure about that.”

A sliver of fear ran down my back. “Which part?”

“That all of us are frightened of Okeus. I was created eons before him.”

“And yet he’s still got you running scared.”

Wapi jumped backward off the railing, flapping his wings so that he hovered in front of the porch. “You go too far, Curse Keeper. I answer to no one.”

“Do I? I’m not so sure. Why are you taking orders from him when you are clearly smarter and more powerful?”

He laughed again, and it sounded like a screeching sound. “Are you suggesting I defy Okeus and take your Manitou?”

Perhaps baiting him hadn’t been a good idea after all. “No, I’m suggesting you and your other wind god friends join forces and overthrow him. You did it with Ahone.”

“Ahone was different.”

“Are you so sure about that? He tricked you into creating Okeus. Then Ahone lent his power to Manteo to create the curse that locked you away for hundreds of years.”

Wapi landed on the porch, mere feet in front of me. His head came up to my mid-thigh.

“Ellie . . . ” David warned, standing next to the sofa.

I flexed my right hand, ready to blast the wind god away if necessary.

Wapi shook his head. “What do you know of the curse? You call yourself Curse Keeper, but you are ignorant. Just like the
tosh-shonte
who helped the
nuppin
.”

Mishiginebig had used those same words. What did they mean?

“I’m here to warn you as a favor to Okeus, but I will leave if you mock me.”

I crossed my arms. “I’m listening.”

Wapi cocked his head and turned one eye toward me. “Ukinim does as he pleases. He cannot be restrained. Do not presume the threat of Okeus’s wrath will protect you from him. Being locked up has changed him into something none of us recognize.”

“How can I defeat him?”

Wapi laughed. “Why would I tell you that?”

“To protect me.”

“I don’t care if you are protected. I only relay Okeus’s warning.” He bobbed his head toward my door. “Stay behind your fortress, but the day is coming when it will no longer be enough.”

That got my attention. “What does that mean?”

Wapi grinned and then flew away.

I stood gaping in the doorway as terror trickled through my body. Soon my door wouldn’t be enough. What would I do then?

“What in bloody hell was that?”

I turned back to face David. He was standing and holding onto the back of the chair, his face a ghastly white.

“Wapi, the wind god of the north. He was particularly chatty tonight.”

“He was . . . a large bird with a man’s head.”

“And white hair. Don’t forget the white hair. That’s the most significant way to tell him apart from his brothers.”

His eyes widened. “His brothers?”

“The other wind gods, but I haven’t had the pleasure of getting to know them like I have Wapi.”

He stared at the still open door. “I have so many questions.”

I surveyed the marks on the front of the door and then shut it once I was satisfied. “It’s always hard to go back to sleep after one of them visits, so I’ve got nothing but time.” I sank onto the sofa and David sat next to me.

“You mentioned several things I’ve never heard of before. You said that Wapi and his brothers overthrew Ahone. How did that happen?”

“Ahone created humanity and put them into a bag.”

He shivered and tensed. “I’ve heard that, but in the story I’m familiar with, the creator was the Great Hare.”

“From the little information I can find, I suspect Ahone and the Great Hare are one and the same. The four wind gods were jealous of everything that the creator god made, but they were most jealous of humanity. They told Ahone he had until the morning of the seventh day to hand humanity over to them or lose his power. Ahone couldn’t bring himself to hand either over, so he tricked them. He split himself in two, creating his twin Okeus. Okeus got all the negative traits of Ahone, but he also got the majority of their power. So Ahone still kept his power, although in a much lower concentration,
and
he saved humanity.”

“How do you know this? This isn’t recorded anywhere that I’m aware of.”

“I saw it happen. Like I told you, I was a witness to creation.” I twisted my neck to glance at him. “I saw the birth of the universe and the world.” The look of disbelief on his face wasn’t surprising. “I was clueless to any of this until Collin and I pressed our hands together while we were in the ocean. I saw it all then. The birth of the gods, and the wind gods’ threat to Ahone and humanity. The birth of Okeus and his children. I saw them all while they were locked behind the gate to Popogusso. And heard their threats. They vowed to make me suffer for what Ananias Dare and Manteo did.”

“But not Collin?”

“He’s pledged himself to Okeus. He’s protected.”

David shook his head. “You saw them imprisoned?”

“Ahone sought revenge for what the wind gods had done, and he wanted to shut Okeus and all his offspring down too. The Great Horned Serpent and that thing eating hearts? They’re some of Okeus’s offspring. When Ahone learned of Manteo’s plan, he lent him the power to lock the gods away. Now they’re all pissed at the creator god, and he’s hiding in the heavens.”

“How is Okeus’s power greater than the wind gods’ if they could collectively threaten Ahone.” He rubbed his temple with his fingertips. “That doesn’t make sense.” His eyes, wild and desperate, locked with mine. “None of this makes sense.”

“I know,” I whispered. “I’m sorry I dragged you into this. I’m no better than Collin.” I realized the truth of it as I said it. But without David, I was doomed . . . we all might be.

“Why do you say that?”

He was on the edge of what he could handle right now. I stood and headed for the kitchen. “I think we need a drink.”

David didn’t answer, his eyes locked on the wall.

Wine didn’t seem strong enough so I searched for a bottle of whiskey an old boyfriend had left when we broke up. I grabbed it out of the cabinet and carried it to the living room with two juice glasses, pouring a generous amount into each glass.

“I’m not whiskey drinker,” David said.

I pressed a glass into his hand. “Neither am I, but tonight both of us are.”

I took a sip, surprised the liquid didn’t burn as much as I’d expected. I rarely drank the stuff and never straight. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

David took a big gulp. “I’ve studied these things, but they’re Native American gods. They’re like the Easter Bunny or Father Christmas. They certainly aren’t supposed to be
real
.”

“I know.” I sat back and took another sip, letting him get it out of his system.

“But here they are—in the flesh. This is my opportunity to learn so much about the Algonquians, but no matter how much information I glean, no one will ever believe me.”

“I know.”

“The
tosh-shonte
and the
nuppin
. I’ve heard of those words. Do you know what they mean?”

“No, but Big Nasty used those words with me before.”

“Big Nasty, the snake who talks to you?”

“Yep.”

He took another big gulp.

“Big Nasty told me that the
nuppin
feared him and soon the
tosh-shonte
would too.”

David closed his eyes. “I’m sure the
nuppin
were the Indians. Like I said, the story of the Great Serpent crossed multiple tribes. He lived in lakes and ponds and killed unsuspecting people. They were terrified of him.”

“So if
nuppin
are the Indians—”

“The
tosh-shonte
must be the English, or in this case, all non-Native Americans.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

He lifted up his glass in salute. “No, it bloody well doesn’t.” He took another drink.

“But right now our biggest threat is Ukinim. I have to figure out how to kill it.”

“It’s a spirit, Ellie. Or, based on what I read and what Wapi said, a demon. Technically, I don’t think you can kill a spirit or demon.”

I shuddered. Though we were still talking about the same thing, the word “demon” brought an added level of terror. “I only know how to get rid of these things with Collin, which isn’t an option. We have to figure out another way.”

He turned to look at me. “That tosser opened the gate and left you to deal with the consequences?”

“I guess he figured I was protected by my henna tattoo and the marks on my door. And to be fair—although I have no idea why I feel the need to be fair—he keeps trying to convince me to pledge myself to Okeus.”

David shook his head. “Okeus is supposed to be evil. That would be a very bad idea.” His words were beginning to slur.

“I know, but if I don’t find Ahone’s mark, I’m doomed. And the more my mark fades, the worse my dreams get.”

He poured himself more whiskey and then topped up my glass. “I know what you need.”

“What?”

“A dream catcher. It’s supposed to protect you from evil. More specifically, it catches the bad dreams and lets in the good.”

I tried not to get excited. “Do you really think that will work?”